New Purse

A while back my stepson who works at Pottery Barn gave me a bag of discontinued fabric samples. I have slowly been using them. There are some coordinates including a brown and greyish aqua paisley and stripe. I love the paisley and decided it would make a wonderful purse. I fussy cut one of the paisleys large enough to make a pocket for the front and then beaded it. Of course I had to add sequins. After it was done, I found a great piece of broken jewelry in my stash that would have worked perfectly in the center of the paisley. Oh well - next time! I took the purse with me to the quilt show today because I was hoping to find a new longer set of straps but the ones I saw weren't much longer and they weren't suede - the fabric is chenille and the suede goes perfectly! I really like how it turned out. The front measures 9.5 x 10" and it is 2" deep. I thought it would be small, but I fit my small sketch book, wallet, calendar, camera, cards, cell and a few other odds and ends in it. I do like a smallish purse. I need to make a new clasp though. One that mimics the paisley.

I also took lots of pictures of the Hoffman Challenge Dolls that were on display. I am so amazed at the caliber of these dolls. Every one is a work of art. I have set up a webpage so they can be viewed better. Check them out here http://www.novasblossoms.com/hoffman21.htm.